WWF: U.S. Leadership Critical to Ending Illegal Wildlife Trafficking

In response to a letter sent today from key House and Senate committee leaders including Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD.), Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), and Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) to the co-chairs of the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued the following statement from Ginette Hemley, senior vice president for conservation strategy and science:

“Ending a problem as serious as wildlife trafficking requires a whole-of-government approach to stopping the senseless slaughter of elephants, tigers and rhinos. The bipartisan leadership shown by Chairmen Coons, Cardin, Royce and Chabot is exactly what our nation needs right now to ramp up efforts to save these iconic species.

“Today’s letter reinforces the importance of the hard work that lies ahead, which requires strong U.S. leadership and cooperation among U.S. government agencies, international leaders, NGOs, and private sector partners.

“WWF strongly supports the Chairmen’s recommendations and hopes the Task Force carefully considers and includes them as part of a bold strategy designed to turn the tide against wildlife traffickers. Combined House and Senate leadership is critical to bringing an end to this crisis and protecting 50 years of wildlife conservation efforts and our nation’s security and economic development interests around the globe. We thank the Chairmen for working together to elevate the importance of this issue.”